Pack a Lunch
The general session on Saturday morning didn't end until about 12:45 with the Netroots Conference set to begin at 1:00 - no time to get something to eat and our sessions run until 6:00!!!
Can You Hear Me Now?
We had a little trouble with the AV equipment at first, which made it very difficult to hear the first half or so of the Florida Progressive Radio interview with Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily Kos. One lady in the back was particularly upset about it and didn't seem to understand that we were doing the best we could until the AV guy could come and fix it.
You can listen to the whole interview at Blog Talk Radio
Assorted Dignitaries
Dan Gelber, Charlie Justice, Dave Aronberg, Karen Thurman and a representative from FairDistrictsFlorida.org all stopped by to say hello.
Netroots Do Their Thing
Ken Quinnell ably moderated the entire event. Curt Johnson stepped up and saved the day numerous times in getting the equipment to work, internet access, loading our presentations --- we pretty much would have been lost without him. I formally nominate him for Netroots MVP.
There were presentations by Ken Quinnell (Florida Progressive Coalition), Gene Smith (Florida Kossacks), Me (Florida Netroots), Brian Franklin (Impact Politics), Ray Seaman (Build Florida's DEC's), Alison Morano (Pasco DEC), Michael Calderin (Candidate for State House 119), and Phil Perry (Florida Democratic Party).
Closing Keynote: Matt Stoller
Matt advises that we "pick a fight" in order to build your community and gain prominence. He used the example of his site OpenLeft joining forces with several other blogs to pressure Chris Dodd (and others) to fight giving retroactive immunity to telecoms.
Soiree and Awards
Food ... finally there's some food! I assume everyone was having a good time ... I was busy eating. As for the Awards, I don't remember the winners in every category - the Florida Progressive Coaltion will have that posted later today (I hope!), but I do want to congratulate everyone!
There were so many great bloggers and activists nominated and it was an honor just being in the same room with all of you.
Special thanks to the Progressive Democrats of America, Democracy for America, Michael Calderin, Brian Franklin and Chris Chiari, and Susan Smith for sponsoring the event.
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The bloggers and activists who make up the Florida Netroots are having their own conference at the Florida Democratic Party Convention on Saturday October 27. Please help us make this event a success by donating via Actblue. Check out our schedule:
1:00-2:00 Live Florida Progressive Radio Show featuring Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily Kos (via phone)
2:00-2:30 Introduction by Phil Perry of the Florida Democratic Party with Opening Keynote by State House Minority Leader Dan Gelber.
2:30-3:20 "Netroots 101" featuring Kenneth Quinnell (Florida Progressive Coalition), Jennifer Killingsworth (Florida Netroots) & Gene Smith (Florida Kossacks)
3:30-4:20 "Netroots Tools" featuring Ray Seaman (Build Florida's DECs) and Brian Franklin (Impact Politics)
4:30-5:20 "Working With the Netroots" featuring Michael Calderin (Calderin for State Representative), Alison Berke Morano (Pasco Democrats) and Phil Perry (Florida Democratic Party)
5:20-5:50 Closing Keynote: Matt Stoller (Open Left)
5:50-6:00 Netroots Awards
6:00-7:00 Soiree with special guest Dennis Kucinich (co-sponsored by Democracy for America & Progressive Democrats of America)
Note that while there are two candidates appearing during this schedule, said appearance does not imply an endorsement of those candidates.
This impressive lineup is not free. If you can help us pay for this, particularly the speakers and the food for the soiree, drop us a few bucks at http://www.actblue.com/page/floridanetroots
Thanks, and I hope to see you there...
Kenneth Quinnell
To everyone involved in making this happen, you have my sincerest thanks!
Update
According to Ken, State Senator Charlie Justice and State Senator Dave Aronberg have also been added to the guest list.
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"There is nothing that will upset a state economic condition like a legislature. It's better to have termites in your house than the legislature (in session)." Will Rogers - Radio broadcast, March 31, 1935
The Florida Legislature has extended itself into yet another special session lasting through October 29th to deal with property taxes.
Government in the Sunshine
State Represenatative Dan Gelber: Florida Legislature must be in the Sunshine
These days, lots of important decisions about your life are being made in Tallahassee: How much property tax you will pay, what kind of insurance you can buy, whether public education and health care will be funded adequately.
Increasingly, however, these decisions are being made in private, without the scrutiny of the public and the media.
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I believe it is time for Florida to reconsider whether giving the Legislature a pass on compliance with Florida's Sunshine Laws is a good idea.
It's important that the citizens of Florida citizens realize that the legislature is making very important decisions that affect their lives without anyone being able to serve as a watchdog over the process.
Property Tax
St. Petersburg Times - Latest tax plan makes a bad situation worse
If the governor and the Legislature don't have the vision or the courage to create a fairer property tax system, they should leave the job to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission that is meeting now and has the power to put amendments on the ballot in November 2008. Instead, they are determined to make a bad situation worse. Their constitutional amendment to double the $25,000 homestead exemption and allow homeowners to take a Save Our Homes tax break of up to $1-million with them when they move would extend and exacerbate the unfairness of the current system. It would require further cuts in services by cities and counties already grappling with newly required tax rate rollbacks and revenue caps, and it would not provide significant relief to businesses and other nonhomesteaded property.
Sun-Sentinel - Democrats 'less likely' to support retooled property tax cut
Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, are planning for a final vote Wednesday or Thursday, but must win over Democrats because a three-fourths majority is needed to place the issue on the Jan. 29 ballot.
Legislators didn't get a draft of the bill until late Friday afternoon, and still don't have a financial analysis on its ramifications.
"I have a bill that is 40 pages long and as I'm starting to wade my way through it, I see it does a lot more than the five or six things we've discussed," Geller said, after taking his complaints to Crist. "Our members are getting less and less likely to support it. [Republicans] are slapping together this bill in a haphazard fashion and will expect us to vote for it on the fly."
The Ledger - What's the Need for Speed?
It was the instant gratification impulse that drove Florida lawmakers this year to hastily slap together, mostly in secret, a confusing, deceptively worded and dangerously wrongheaded property-tax-cut amendment and rush it onto the upcoming January presidential election ballot. Recently, a judge threw the measure off the ballot as a clumsy attempt to fool the voters.
What might be a rational response to that series of events? One might think that Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature would learn from their mistakes, resolve to adopt a more serious, studious approach to property-tax reform, and then take more time for deliberation, debate and public input - perhaps with the intention of putting a more carefully crafted amendment on the November 2008 general election ballot.
But, no. The immediate-gratification impulse will not be so easily stifled.
What ever happened to conducting economic impact studies and doing a thourough analysis of proposals before enacting them into law? We're in the situation we are in now because our leaders haven't been taking the long term view. It's time we focus on whats best for the future of Florida.
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"No man's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session ..." -- Judge Gideon J. Tucker (1866)
Here's a roundup of what the legislature has been up to:
Property Tax
Sarasota Herald Tribune: Session Could Take a Detour
Three options facing the Legislature on property tax reform.
- Do nothing and hope an appeals court or the Florida Supreme Court reverses a Leon County judge's decision last month. The judge found that the Jan. 29 ballot language approved by the Republican-dominated Legislature in June unconstitutionally misled voters.
- Try to tweak the Jan. 29 ballot language to meet the judge's concerns. But a number of GOP lawmakers have reversed their support since June, making this a long shot.
- Move to a new plan. Options include doubling the homestead exemption, allowing homeowners to keep some accrued Save Our Homes tax savings if they move, reducing the tangible property tax for businesses or some combination of this or other ideas. But to get any plan on the Jan. 29 ballot, lawmakers need to act by Oct. 29 and pass any plan by a three-fourths margin. That gives Democrats – outnumbered nearly 2-1 in the Legislature – virtual veto power.
Budget Cuts
News-Press: Budget cut tussle begins: Dems say GOP plan won't fly
Senate Democratic Leader Steve Geller of Cooper City said most Senate Democrats will refuse to vote for the plan when it reaches the floor later this week.
Democrats want the cuts, which will largely fall on education and health care, to be at least partially offset with revenue increases, including an expansion of gambling and a rollback of tax breaks for special interests.
"For this special session, it's going to be a plan between the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans and it's not going to be one the Democrats can go along with," Geller said.
House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach agreed.
"We've had the worst high school graduation rate for three consecutive years, and now we're going to take 300 million out of our public education base?" Gelber said. "It makes no sense."
St. Pete Times: Budget at hand, but minds on taxes
Democrats have threatened to vote no on budget cuts, complaining that Republicans won't debate alternatives, like ending old sales tax exemptions or more recent tax cuts passed during former Gov. Jeb Bush's tenure.
"Everything needs to be on the table," said Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, D-Cooper City.
"That's not going to happen in this session," said Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St.
Yeah, why discuss doing something like restoring the intangibles tax, which brought in $1.1 Billion in revenue to the state, when we could cut things like healthcare and education instead?
PIP
Tallahassee Democrat: PIP's return not if, but when
Heeding regulators who say they need time to handle changes to Florida's off-again, on-again mandatory medical coverage, negotiators said Wednesday they have agreed to a five-month delay in restarting Personal Injury Protection, as well as the state's no-fault law.
The restart date for PIP, under this proposal, would be February 15.
Government in the Sunshine?
Sun-Sentinel: Secrecy ushers in special session
Many lawmakers are openly critical of the unprecedented number of closed-door attempts at deal making that will ultimately determine what they vote on. Indeed, leaders didn't even announce the agenda for the session until Friday -- a task usually completed weeks in advance.
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House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach was sharply critical of House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, who last week agreed to $790 million in budget cuts in a pact most lawmakers first learned about via e-mail.
...
"I know it's easier to have a meeting when the public isn't there and when all the legislators who might disagree aren't there," Gelber said. "But, candidly, it's not better. It's not fair."
Learn more about Florida's Sunshine Law and Public Records Law. Are secret meetings part of the accountability that Marco Rubio keeps talking about?
I'm not a big sports fan, but
Florida Today: Legislators make way for football game
House and Senate members have a tight schedule to agree on $1 billion in budget cuts, made all the tighter because most of them will be booted out of town for the weekend. Tallahassee was long-ago booked for a Florida State University football game.
Hey, whatever its takes to get them out of town!
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In an attempt to Better Know Florida, this blog is going to include a series of diaries profiling state and local elected officials or candidates. Last week, a survey was posted asking readers for their recommendations on who to profile. So, who is the elected official or candidate for office at the state or local level that readers thought the public ought to know more about?
There were 17 responses. The survey asked who to profile and why.
State Senator Dave Aronberg garnered a nomination with the comment: "Dave will undoubtedly be a candidate for higher office (US Senate, Governor, AG) in 2010, we should start getting some exposure for him now. This is particularly true for the netroots in terms of exposure." I agree, in fact, I wrote a piece about him on Daily Kos and cross-posted on FLA Politics months ago. I even got a thank-you from the Senator as it was his first mention on the Daily Kos site.
Congresswoman Kathy Castor also garnered a nomination stating that "She's one of our best progressive elected officials in Florida." She represents Florida's 11th Congressional District which is made up of parts of Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. At this time, the site is focusing on state and local offices or candidates to profile, not federal.
State Representative Keith Fitzgerald was also nominated. He currently represents District 69 which is made up of parts of Sarasota and Manatee counties. His supporter wrote: "Rising star in the state house; freshman democrat, deputy policy chair; won hard fought campaign for a traditionally republican seat in Sarasota." Beating a Republican in a conservative district is certainly a mark in his favor.
Another nomination came in for Representative Dan Gelber. He is the House Minority Leader and representative for District 106 comprising of part of Miami-Dade County. His supporter wrote: "He is the Democratic Leader of the Florida House and one of his party's rising stars. He did not get enough credit for the party's success in 2006, when his leadership helped the state party gain seven seats in the state house and helped the FDP set new fundraising records. He is also a former Chief Counsel to Senator Sam Nunn where he worked on some of the earliest counter terrorism legislation and when he was hired was the youngest federal prosecutor in America."
At the local level, we got a nomination to profile Jack Killingsworth who is running for Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections. In case you're wondering, I wasn't the one who submitted the nomination, it came from an IP address registered with a Tampa Bay area ISP. His supporter wrote: "I think that we should profile this candidate, the Supervisor of Elections (SOE) office, and all other Democratic candidates who run for the office as important 'Gate Keepers of Democracy'. The SOE has enough discretionary power to ensure that there are not long lines in working class neighborhood precincts during the time that most of them vote, between 4:00PM and 7:00PM and 7:00AM and 9:00AM." I started researching the SOE's for the 15 counties that had the touchscreen voting machines, but I need to collect much more information before I'm ready to publish anything. I can tell you that the majority of them are Republican and three of them were appointed by Jeb! If you're a DFA member, Jack has a DFA Campaign Page where you can voice your support.
A nomination that I'm unsure about due to a lack of information is for Lawrence Powell. His supporter wrote: "This is a young, energetic, and well-qualified candidate that should be included in your profile." I did a google search and was unable to locate a campaign website. I traced the IP address of the supporter to a public library in Okaloosa, but didn't see any candidates by that name listed on that county's SOE site. The one thing I did find was a Lawrence Powell who serves as the President of the Escambia County Chapter of the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida. So, I checked Escambia's SOE and while I didn't find out anything about Mr. Powell, I did find the SOE site to have an amazing lack of up-to-date and accurate information about the 2008 candidates. If you have more information about Lawrence Powell, please contact me.
Mark LaFontaine, candidate for Florida State House District 92 in Broward County, garnered two nominations. His supporters wrote: "Mark is running for State Representative, District 92 and is seeking to become the first openly gay member of the Florida legislature" and "Mark LaFontaine’s story reads like that of the All-American Boy: raised in Broward County, he was an altar boy at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Deerfield Beach. Mark joined the Boy Scouts and rose through the ranks to become an Eagle Scout. Upon graduation from Deerfield Beach High School he received a Congressional appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy and later served in the US Coast Guard. He graduated from college with honors, received an advanced degree, and today runs his own small accounting practice. Mark LaFontaine has lived the American Dream."
All of the remaining 8 nominations went to:
Sean Shaw, candidate for Florida House District 8, which is currently held by term-limited Curtis B. Richardon and is made up of most of Gadsen and parts of Leon County. I must admit that I was a little surprised that such a large percentage of the nominations went to one person. However, when you consider that this is a going to be a highly contested seat with 5 people currently vying for the office, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that the campaigns are already mobilizing.
Here are the comments from those nominating Mr. Shaw:
"He is a breath of fresh air, he is running for office for all the right reasons. This is something that is rare in politicians today."
"He is an up and coming political thinker with great ideas and great charisma."
"He has great ambition and seems to really care about those of us who live in the non-popular counties (Gadsden). He has been to churches and helped organize a health fair for the uninsured."
"He appears to have a lot of fresh ideas that are relevant to the community and he seems very sincere about his desire to help the community and I am curious to know more about this individual running for office."
"It's always a good idea to get younger, fresher faces in politics. Encouraging greater youth participation is a good thing."
"He is an up-and-coming superstar on the political scene."
"This person is a young and inspiring political leader of the future. His goals are to help the state employees, better the education system in the state, and help our the non-insured get the health care they need."
"He's running for HD8. He has a long history of service in the communnity and would make a great representative."
"Because he's better than he may seem."
It would be a pleasure to profile Sean Shaw.
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